Gerry Oginski's New York Medical Malpractice Blog

Welcome to my blog!

This blog is designed to educate and inform you about interesting things in the world of medicine and law and how they intersect. I offer news items, commentary and opinion on my blog. I welcome your comments and thoughts. To learn more about how medical malpractice, accident cases and wrongful death cases work in New York, I encourage you to explore my popular website here. As always, if you have legal questions, I urge you to pick up the phone and call me at 516-487-8207 or by email at Gerry@Oginski-law.com. I welcome your call!

The long-awaited check finally came in. It sat on my desk along with a cover letter saying “Here is your check.” I stared at it. It had a lot of zeros. Where it said “Pay to the order of,” it had my name there. It had my client’s name also on that line. That check represented the culmination of a long and hard-fought battle against a doctor and a hospital in the New York metropolitan area. I had seen checks of that size before, but that check was only partial payment for this case. I was looking for another check that my secretary told me was in my mail pile.
Then, underneath that check, I saw another letter with another check for the same case. That’s the check I was looking for. That check was even bigger than the first. Much bigger. By a multiple of five. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. It was from a different bank. On the line where it said “Pay to the order of,” my name was on that line too along with my clients. The amount took my breath away. I had never actually seen a check with that amount before. It was exciting. I couldn’t believe this day had come.

Newsday reported about a new report confimring that 1 out of 7 Medicare patients suffer injury in hospitals. That is an astounding number.
Medicare's new chief has called for improving patient safety following that report. In fact, the article reported that 15,000 people per month suffered a complication that contributed to their death, according to the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Appendicitis is the most common acute abdominal surgical condition in medicine, yet there is probably not a single physician in practice today who hasn’t missed the diagnosis at least once. Often that results in “simple” appendicitis becoming a “ruptured” or “perforated” appendix. I have reviewed several such cases which have prompted this review.
The appendix is a tubular extension of the cecum, in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen at the beginning of the colon or large bowel. Because of its structure, it acts as a “catch basin” or blind pouch where a variety of bacteria and mechanical obstructions can cause problems. One can think of appendicitis as a boil or abscess. Germs get in, propagate, and cause an infection. If the infected appendix is not removed, it can swell to the point where pressure causes rupture, spilling the infection into the abdominal cavity.

Newborns come into the world in a fragile state. Even a simple mistake in medical treatment can mean life or death for a baby. That is why it is so shocking to hear about incidents in which a hospital makes careless errors in infant care.
That is what happened to a newborn when a nurse mixed up the baby’s intravenous line with that of its mother. The result was that the baby received 400 times the recommended amount of morphine for a baby. The baby stopped breathing and had to be revived. The baby was able to survive but only with the help of a feeding tube.

Most patients do not have any background in medicine and even one’s that do, usually blindly rely on a doctor’s diagnosis and suggested treatment when confronted with a medical problem. But what happens when the doctors get it wrong? What happens when they miss a diagnosis and fail to provide necessary treatment?

This comment is brought to you straight from White Coat's Callroom, a blog from Inside the Emergency Department.

"Physician’s Reciprocal Insurers, a med mal carrier that insures 25% of New York’s physicians has one foot in bankruptcy court and the other foot on a banana peel. State mandated insurance premium rate freezes appear to be partly to blame. How could this happen if insurers are raking in the money and are really responsible for the medical malpractice crisis."

He raises an excellent question. Why aren't more physicians asking the same question?

Gerry practices law exclusively in the State of New York. Within New York he practices primarily in the following counties: New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau and Suffolk. Technically, Brooklyn is known as "Kings County," and Manhattan and New York City are known as "New York County." Staten Island is known as "Richmond County." These counties make up the New York metropolitan area.

The material on this website is for informational purposes only. Mr. Oginski practices law exclusively in the State of New York. We do not practice law in any other State. Please do not send any written materials to this office until you have spoken and/or communicated with us. We cannot consider you a client until such time as we have consulted with you, and met with you personally. Since all cases are different and legal authority can and does change, it is important to remember that prior results cannot and do not guarantee similar outcomes with respect to any future matter in which any lawyer or law firm may be retained. To the extent that this website discusses past cases the firm has handled, or in any way mentions the firm or its services, New York courts may deem this to be attorney advertising.